Newbie Clio 197 Cup

Good Morning,

Let me introduce myself, I am Mark from Cheshire and have a couple of Golf R32's (mk4&5) the Mk4 is kept in heated garage and only comes out a few times a year (I am an admin on the R32OC). For the last 2 x years have owned a Twingo GT as my daily, well this week I decided to upgrade my daily to a White Clio 197 Cup with 66,000 miles and seems tidy, I chose the clio as pre VW I owned a Renault 5 GT Turbo, Clio Williams and a Clio Trophy.

So far I am not that impressed with it, nothing major I just don't get excited getting into it maybe because it has a few issues that I make the driving experience less fun and involved:

I will list them below: (and maybe you experienced 197 owners can give me some tips and cost ideas??)

1, When driving spiritedly there is a crunch into 3rd gear
2, Drivers side knocking sounds like a top mount? - annoying as fcuk
3, Alarm makes a horrible screech after car is locked (I Think I have worked out its the bonnet close sensor) - Can this be wired out if I take off and solder wires together

Anyway Hello and I look forwards to your help and advise,

I have added a couple of photos
 
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Welcome along!

Awesome list of cars you own and have had!

Changing gearbox oil can help with the crunching!!
First issue I’ve heard of the alarm...
 
Hi,

Sorry you have a few issues with your new car, it's just something you have to accept with these cars.

The gear box could do with an oil change which may help the crunch depending on how severe it is. Ultimately you need new syncho rings/a new box to totally get rid of it.

I too had issues with my alarm going off whenever I locked it. As a temporary fix you can lock the car without setting the alarm by doing this:

Open drivers side door
Put keycard in slot
Press stop/start button 5 times fairly fast (Listen for a click each time)
Take the card out and close the door
Press the lock button on the card twice, fast.
The car will lock and you should get 3-4 beeps which confirms the alarm has not been armed but the car is locked.

Obviously a very temporary solution but means you can lock the car until it gets sorted. My issue was the fuel cap solenoid had failed, just needed to replace it. If yours is the plunger I think you can remove it but it's probably better just to replace it, shouldn't be too expensive.

EDIT: Not sure whether you meant your alarm is going off or whether the 'speaker' is just fried...


As far as the knocking goes, I don't have any experience with it but I know it's a common problem. I think I remember reading that the rubber top on the suspension tower wears away causing metal on metal contact? But I might be making that up...
 
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Welcome to the forum.
As said gearbox oil change a must before looking into a box rebuild. I personally use ELF NFP but redline mtl also gets good reviews.

Knocking could be a number of issues suspension wise. Hardest part is identifying which!

As for not being excited.... drive it like you stole it is the only way or they can feel a little lacking because of very low torque.
 
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Hi Guys,

thanks for the welcome and advise,

I researched the alarm off thing, but as its the Cup model its a key start not the key card?, is there any other way of dis arming it.

with the alarm its like a beep for 30 seconds to 1 minute from the back of the car, once it goes away it stops
 
Welcome to the forum.
As said gearbox oil change a must before looking into a box rebuild. I personally use ELF NFP but redline mtl also gets good reviews.

Knocking could be a number of issues suspension wise. Hardest part is identifying which!

As for not being excited.... drive it like you stole it is the only way or they can feel a little lacking because of very low torque.
Thanks Ben
 
There should be instructions on how to disarm the alarm in your handbook.

So is the alarm actually going off (Indicators flashing) or just random beeps? Does it stop by itself or keep going?
 
There should be instructions on how to disarm the alarm in your handbook.

So is the alarm actually going off (Indicators flashing) or just random beeps? Does it stop by itself or keep going?
its a prolonged tone, like a ringing in your ears, then it stops and all ok, no beeps flashes or anything
 
I'm guessing you have read what I just read. Try pressing down on the bonnet when it happens near the plunger
 
Welcome Mark.

Loving the avatar! :smiley:

Sorry to hear you haven't gelled with the car. A few annoying issues can sap the enjoyment factor pretty quickly. Hoping you can get it all sorted with a minimum of fuss.

As Ben said, the way to get the best out of these cars is to rev the nuts off it and drive it like you stole it. The chassis is so good they can feel a bit under powered but keep it above 4.5k rpm and they're hugely entertaining.

Fingers crossed she'll be putting a smile on your face soon.
 
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I'm guessing you have read what I just read. Try pressing down on the bonnet when it happens near the plunger
I have, but the plunger is not there I think I can see it in the bumper, I reckon when the last owner changed the light bulb they knocked it off - so that must be the issue
 
I have fixed the noise yay

The plunger was hanging down near battery , plugged it back in and hey presto

No noise
 

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